| Sierra
Nevada De Merida |
|
| Meridia, Venezuela |
| |
| Earth's Natural Wonders
in South America |
| |
| Elevation: 1,790
to 16,422 feet (500 to 5,007 m) |
| Habitats: tropical
forest, cloud forest, |
| high-altitude
grasslands and moors, scree slopes,
glaciers |
|
The Sierra Nevada de
Mérida is the highest mountain
range in the largest massif in Venezuela,
the Cordillera de Mérida, which
in turn is part of the northern extent
of the Cordillera de los Andes (Andes
Mountains). The Sierra Nevada de Mérida
includes the highest peaks in Venezuela,
Pico Bolívar, which has an
elevation of 4,981 metres (16,342
ft), Pico Humboldt, Pico Bonpland
and others.
Cordillera
de Mérida
The Cordillera de Mérida
is a series of mountain ranges, or
massif, in northwestern Venezuela.
The Cordillera de Mérida is
a northeastern extension of the Andes
Mountains. The ranges run southwest-northeast
between the Venezuelan-Colombian border
and the Venezuelan coastal range.
The Táchira depression separates
the Cordillera de Mérida from
the Cordillera Oriental, which forms
the Colombia-Venezuela border.
The ranges runs from
southwest to northeast and parts lie
within each of the following states:
Táchira, Mérida, Barinas,
Trujillo, Portuguesa and Lara. The
southeastern slopes are drained by
tributaries of the Orinoco River,
while the streams that drain the northwestern
slopes empty into Lake Maracaibo.
At the northeast tip of the massif
lies the town of Barquisimeto and
the headwaters of the River Cojedes.
In the centre of the
massif is the city of Mérida.
Two ranges of peaks lie on either
side of the city, the Sierra de la
Culata to the north and Sierra Nevada
de Mérida to the south. Pico
Bolívar, at 4,981 meters elevation
(16,342 feet), is the highest peak
in Venezuela.
Most of the ranges are
covered by Venezuelan Andes montane
forests, although the highest elevations
(above 3,100 meters) are above tree
line. These ranges are home to the
Cordillera de Mérida páramo,
an enclave of the páramo (tropical
alpine grasslands) of the northern
Andes. Protected areas in the massif
include Sierra Nevada National Park.
Five glaciers are located
in this mountain range, also the snowy
season is between July-August, and
the snow cover the mountains above
4.200 meters, and sometimes above
3.800 meters.[2]
Pico
Bolívar
| |
Pico Bolívar
is the highest mountain in Venezuela,
at 4,981 metres. Located in Mérida
State, its top is permanently
covered with Névé
snow and three small glaciers.
It can be reached by means of
the Mérida Cable Car, the
highest cable car in the world,
which departs from the city of
Mérida. Pico Bolívar
is named after the Venezuelan
independence hero Simon Bolívar.The
glaciers located in the Pico Bolivar
are as the result from Merida
glaciation in the Pleistocene. |
| The
Pico Bolívar is located
on the mountain previously called
La Columna, next to El León
(4,743 m) and El Toro (4,695 m).
The new name was suggested by
Miguel Febres Cordero in 1925.
It was officially renamed on December
30th, 1934.[3] |
Pico
Humboldt
Pico Humboldt is Venezuela's
second highest peak, at 4,940 metres
above sea level. It is located in
the Sierra Nevada de Merida, in the
Venezuelan Andes of (Mérida
State). The peak with its sister peak
Pico Bonpland, and the surrounding
páramos are protected by the
Sierra Nevada National Park. The summit
is surrounded by the Eastern Coromoto
glacier and the Sievers glacier, the
two largest out of the five glaciers
remaining in the country (the other
three smaller glaciers are on Pico
Bolívar). The glaciers on Humboldt
Peak (as most tropical glaciers) have
been receding fast since the 1970s
and they are forecast to melt completely
in a couple of decades.[4]
Pico
Bonpland
Pico Bonpland is Venezuela's
third highest peak, at 4,883 metres
above sea level. It is located in
the Sierra Nevada de Merida, in the
Venezuelan Andes of (Mérida
State). The peak with its sister peak
Pico Humboldt, and the surrounding
páramos are protected by the
Sierra Nevada National Park. It share
with the Pico Humboldt, the biggest
glacier in the country. The name of
the peak is in honor to Aime Bonpland,
although he never visited the Venezuelan
Andes.[6]
The glaciers located
in the Bonpland are as the result
from Merida glaciation in the Pleistocene.
